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Spain eyes total smoking ban in public places  

Health authorities "would like to take the decision to totally ban smoking in all public places," based on opinion polls which show that the majority of Spaniards back such a move, Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez said.

"The polls that we have carried out, including among smokers, indicate that 70 percent of the population would be favourable to a total ban," she told Cadena Ser radio, noting the success of such moves in Ireland, Italy and Turkey.

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• UPDATE: Spain Is Ready For Full Smoking Ban - Health Minister  

Spain is ready for total smoking ban in public places, Spain's health minister Trinidad Jimenez said in an interview Monday with radio station Cadena Ser.

"Right now, with the information we have and the study we are doing of the current [smoking] law, I think the society is mature enough... and we want to prohibit smoking in all public places," Jimenez said.

In 2006, Spain introduced a smoking ban in workplaces and public places larger than 100 square meters. However, a smoke-free bar or restaurant, for example, in Spain is rare. Many of the country's bars and restaurants are smaller than 100 square meters and in larger establishments, few owners enforce the law or have installed nonsmoking sections.

The move is likely to be a blow to tobacco companies, that have traditionally found Spain, along with other Southern European nations, to be key markets.

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Total smoking ban could be on the cards 

HEALTH minister Trinidad Jiménez (pictured) has threatened to ban smoking in all public places – including bars and restaurants.

Since the anti-smoking law came into effect on January 1, 2006, all bars over 120 square metres – not counting the kitchen, bar and toilets – had to choose whether to allow smoking on their premises. . . .

But the ministry of health says that although a million people in Spain have given up smoking since January 2006, the law does not have sufficient impact.

They believe Spain is ‘now ready for a total ban’ and commented that most other European countries have stopped letting people smoke in public places.

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Smoking More Than 5 Cigarettes A Day Provokes Migraine Attacks 

Tobacco acts as a precipitating factor for headaches, specifically migraines. This is indicated in a study which shows that smokers have more migraine attacks and that smoking more than five cigarettes a day triggers this headache. The work has appeared in the Journal of Headache and Pain.

The influence of tobacco as a precipitating, non-causal factor of migraine attacks has produced contradictory data in scientific literature. The limited research prior to the work published in The Journal of Headache and Pain indicated that smoking could improve migraines by reducing anxiety, one of the factors that triggers an attack.

"This study is groundbreaking in Spain as there are few studies on this topic, and all are very biased. This is due to the complexity and need for prior training of the participants", Julio Pascual, one of the authors of this research and doctor at the Neurology Unit of Marqu�s de Valdecilla, University Hospital (Santander), explains to SINC.

One advantage of this study is that the sample used, 361 medicine students from the University of Salamanca, were fully aware what a migraine was.

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Smoking as a precipitating factor for migraine: a survey in medical students  

Our aim was to analyse the relationship between migraine and smoking in medical students. Medical students who had already received teaching on migraine were asked to answer an ad hoc questionnaire. A total of 361 students filled in the questionnaire: 245 (68%) were women. International Headache Society criteria were fulfilled by 58 (prevalence of migraine 16%) students. A total of 74 (20%) were current smokers: 21 males (18% of men were smokers) and 53 females (22% smokers). Within those 58 students with migraine, 17 (29%) smoke: only 2 were males (14% of males with migraine smoked) while the remaining 15 were females (34% of women with migraine smoked). Within those 17 students who were smokers and migraineurs, 12 (71%) thought that smoking worsens migraine and 10 (59%) that smoking precipitates attacks. The minimum number of cigarettes which subjectively precipitates attacks was 5. Migraine prevalence in the 20s in Spain is 16%. Our data obtained in medical students suggest that smoking can be a precipitating factor for migraine attacks, as the prevalence of active smoking is one-third higher in migraineurs and as there seems to be a relationship between the number of cigarettes and the development of migraine attacks.

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• Smoking More Than Five Cigarettes A Day May Provoke Migraine Attacks 

Tobacco acts as a precipitating factor for headaches, specifically migraines, new research suggests. This is indicated in a study which shows that smokers have more migraine attacks and that smoking more than five cigarettes a day triggers this headache. The work has appeared in the Journal of Headache and Pain.

The influence of tobacco as a precipitating, non-causal factor of migraine attacks has produced contradictory data in scientific literature. The limited research prior to the work published in The Journal of Headache and Pain indicated that smoking could improve migraines by reducing anxiety, one of the factors that triggers an attack.

"This study is groundbreaking in Spain as there are few studies on this topic, and all are very biased. This is due to the complexity and need for prior training of the participants", Julio Pascual, one of the authors of this research and doctor at the Neurology Unit of Marqués de Valdecilla, University Hospital (Santander), explains to SINC.

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Imperial, Philip Morris hike Spain tobacco prices  

Imperial Tobacco (IMT.L) and Philip Morris (PM.N) have both raised the price of their cigarettes in Spain by about 0.35 euro a pack, according to figures published in Spain's state bulletin. . . .

Last week, the government announced tax increases on tobacco

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UN health agency wins prestigious Spanish prize 

The World Health Organization, which has helped spearhead efforts to contain swine flu, won Spain's prestigious Prince of Asturias prize on Wednesday for its work fighting global killers such as AIDS, polio and tuberculosis.

The jury also singled out the Geneva-based U.N. health organization for its efforts to lower infant mortality rates and reduce tobacco consumption around the world.

"WHO is one of the most respected international institutions for its remarkable work fostering coordination and cooperation between countries in health matters," the foundation said in announcing the award.

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El tabaco de liar es más dañino y adictivo que los cigarros [The roll of snuff is more harmful and addictive than cigarettes] 

An expert in cancer and vice president of the National Committee for Smoking Prevention, Dr. Francisco Rodríguez Lozano, warned during his participation in the Symposium on Cancer and Snuff in the capital of Gran Canaria, organized by the College of Dentists in Las Palmas, on the false belief that snuff rolling is less harmful than cigarettes.

The specialist in oral cancer wanted to qualify that "snuff, which is growing among the younger population due to the crisis, it contains more harmful additives to cigarettes, which may be carcinogenic when burned."

"The roll of snuff contains 20 percent of additives on average compared to 10% of conventional snuff," he said. Therefore, the large quantity of such additives that can become carcinogenic when burned, together with typically smoked without a filter, make snuff rolling in a potential danger. "It is probably more harmful and more addictive than cigarettes," he concluded.

He added that "to resolve this conflict, it is best to quit smoking." A recent study suggests that nicotine gum can also cause cancer. On this, Dr. Rodriguez Lozano explained that although it might be true for excessive consumption, "it would be worse to continue smoking." "There are other treatments that do not take nicotine, such as varenicline bupropín or showing excellent results," he added.

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• Criticism for Smoking Ban not being complied with in Barcelona 

Analysis of the Public Health Agency of Barcelona says that from 1136 catering establishments in the city it was revealed that 90.9% of fast foods and franchises are smoke-free environments.

At the other extreme, there only appears to be about 8% of the bars and cafes of the smallest areas who have banned smoking on their premises.

The Department of Health carried out several inspections on properties that were less than 100 square meters in footage (as is stated in the law) and that sold food and this is where the figures have caused criticism.

Among the restaurants, 40% of those over 100 m2y nearly one third have opted to be smoke-free premises in Barcelona (it is the local groups that has constructed separate spaces for smokers and non-smokers).

However, after three years of the regulation being in force, it has not increased the percentage of bars and cafes that comply with the smoking ban. Among the cafe and bars, only one in four prohíbit smoking.

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• Spain To Place Gruesome Images On Cigarette Packets -Minister 

Spain said Tuesday it plans to force tobacco companies to put gruesome images on cigarette packets to warn smokers of the health risks, a measure already introduced in some European countries.

The images will have "strong visual impact," but it isn't known what they exactly they will be or when the measure will come into force, Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez said on Spanish National Radio.

Tobacco companies are already obliged to put the message "Smoking Kills" in black and white on cigarette packets sold in Spain

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Telefonica's Alierta: Didn't Buy Tabacalera Shares In 96, 97 

Telefonica SA (TEF) Chairman Cesar Alierta said Thursday he didn't buy shares in tobacco company Tabacalera in 1996 or 1997 in the second day of a trial against Alierta for alleged insider trading.

"I didn't buy Tabacalera shares in 1996 or 1997 either directly or indirectly," Alierta said. "I'm the only head of a public or semi-public company that has never bought a share, and the only one with a lawsuit," he added.

Alierta and his nephew, Luis Javier Placer, allegedly used privileged information to buy and sell Tabacalera shares while Alierta was the company's chairman.

Alierta then joined Telefonica, the country's largest telecommunications company by market value.

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Telefonica’s Alierta Faces Insider-Trading Case Over 1998 Sale  

Telefonica SA Chairman Cesar Alierta will defend himself against criminal charges that he illegaly traded shares of a tobacco company he ran more than 10 years ago at a trial that starts in Madrid today.

Spain’s prosecutor will seek a jail term of 4 1/2 years for the 63-year-old Alierta in the case over share transactions at Spanish cigarette maker Tabacalera SA in 1997 and 1998, according to court filings. . . .

Alierta earned 309.9 million pesetas ($2.5 million) trading shares of Tabacalera before a tobacco price increase and the announcement of the acquisition of Florida-based cigar maker Havatampa Inc., according to a court filing by anticorruption prosecutor Alejandro Luzon.

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New Squad Garbage Police Work to Keep Madrid Tidy  

MADRID (AP) -- Spain's capital city is full of many wonderful things, but nobody could accuse its inhabitants of being overly tidy. Broken bottles litter the streets, cigarette butts protrude from the sand at playgrounds, and Sundays dawn with a nose-curling bouquet of revelers' urine and unscooped piles deposited by man's best friend.

But if a new plan by the city council works, Madrilenos will relieve themselves against the wall at their own peril. Soon, a 300-strong squad of ''garbage police'' will be patrolling the streets, doling out fines high enough to sober you up in a hurry. . . . Many playgrounds in Madrid's center are in public squares ringed with pubs that overflow into the streets in the evenings. By morning, all manner of refuse can be found amid the swings and jungle gyms.

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Spaniards arrested in tobacco offences 

The number of Spaniards involved in tobacco offences in Gibraltar is on the increase.

Further arrests for possession of commercial quantities of tobacco were carried out on Tuesday by the RGP.

In one of the incidents a 25 year old male Spanish national resident in La Linea was arrested in Fish Market Road for being in possession of 4,000 cigarettes. He was taken to New Mole House Police Station where he accepted a caution for the offence.

Later that evening, at Europa Road, police arrested three Spanish nationals

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